Upgrade or not enough difference?

[JakeKlem]

I am wondering If it is worth upgrade my CPU for my HTPC. Right now im using a Northwood P4 2.53 OC@3.06 with 533bus@644. My question is whether or not it is worth upgrading to a >3.0 stock prescott with 800mhz bux and OC it. I could use the 2.53 in my work computer so its not like it would go to waste. So would I be able to notice a difference with the high freq, increased bus speed, and larger amount of L2 cache?
Here are screen shots from CPU-Z:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jakeklem/Forum%20Pics/CPU-ZNorthwoodCPU.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jakeklem/Forum%20Pics/CPU-ZNorthwoodCache.jpg

What do you think?

[-_{MoW}_-Assasi]

No point, if any, do a complete overhaul to an AM2 System or C2D system

Its not worth that little extra

[greenmaji]

Does your HTPC have capture card(s) that have hardware incoder(s) on board?

Is the CPU being stressed durring operation currently?

If your using software to do your incoding.. a platform upgrade might be wise (depending on the type of input your working with, HDTV I would be looking into some decent capture cards ;) )

[batboy]

The trouble with just upgrading the CPU to a Prescott in a HTPC is heat... which mean you have to provide better cooling... which means more noise. Most people (myself included) try to run their HTPC as quiet as possible.

The other question is this... will your motherboard support a Prescott? If so, then my advice if you "only" want to do a processor upgrade, is to swap in a Northwood 800 bus processor with hyperthreading. My HTPC has a 3.0C that I have overclocked to 3.75 gig (250 FSB). Since I have PC4000 RAM, that means my RAM is perfectly in spec at 250 FSB. Speaking of RAM, what do you have?

[fabulouscoops]

Most HTPCs do not need a fast CPU. (I use a P4 1.4 GHz socket 423 and it works fine with a Hauppauge PVR-150) A C2D would be massive overkill.
I think you would miss the hyperthreaded 3.0 Prescott in your business machine.

[JakeKlem]

Does your HTPC have capture card(s) that have hardware incoder(s) on board?

Is the CPU being stressed durring operation currently?

If your using software to do your incoding.. a platform upgrade might be wise (depending on the type of input your working with, HDTV I would be looking into some decent capture cards ;) )
Right now I have a ATI AIW 9800pro so i believe the encoder is software. The cpu can handle simple stuff, but I havent really thrown much at it yet. Just playing some movies in media center and some internet browsing.

The trouble with just upgrading the CPU to a Prescott in a HTPC is heat... which mean you have to provide better cooling... which means more noise. Most people (myself included) try to run their HTPC as quiet as possible.

The other question is this... will your motherboard support a Prescott? If so, then my advice if you "only" want to do a processor upgrade, is to swap in a Northwood 800 bus processor with hyperthreading. My HTPC has a 3.0C that I have overclocked to 3.75 gig (250 FSB). Since I have PC4000 RAM, that means my RAM is perfectly in spec at 250 FSB. Speaking of RAM, what do you have?
my motherboard can support a prescott and as for ram I have 2gb of pc3200 I'll have to make another post when I get home to give you more info.

[JakeKlem]

Heres some info on the RAM...


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jakeklem/Forum%20Pics/CPU-ZMemory0.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/jakeklem/Forum%20Pics/CPU-ZMemory1.jpg

[greenmaji]

If your using it for just playback the current CPU should be fine, if you start incoding you can upgrade the caputure card if it starts having trouble with the workload.

[JakeKlem]

If your using it for just playback the current CPU should be fine, if you start incoding you can upgrade the caputure card if it starts having trouble with the workload.
Well it seems like im headed towards upgrading. The mobo I was going to use for my work computer is dead. See this thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=494413
So now im thinking about using the current mobo in my HTPC for my work computer and getting an AMD setup for my HTPC. My brother suggested getting a 3700 (i dont know much about AMD... I havent had one since my K6). I did a little research and I think it will be capable of everything I need it for. I plan on doing some encodeing, but not very often.